Something More
by arielprime
Summary: Relationships always take work, especially when neither parties intended on anything more than gratification in the middle of the night...


Something More

With a click and a hiss the dwelling's door slid open, and the maverick Wrecker trudged inside, grumbling and muttering to himself between haggard ventilations. Once white plating now dripped with neon green ship fluids, and fresh Energon. Whether or not the Energon was his was anyone's guess, though the bleeding lip component assured at least one speculation: he had a run in with a Con – _again_. That was enough to get Ratchet's circuits whirring, and behind a hardened jawline denta gritted as the Wrecker closed the door.

"Where in the Pit have you been?" The Medic snarled, looking up from his report.

The Wrecked rolled his optics with a huff, crouching to raid a nearby storage unit in hopes of finding a rag.

"You're really gonna do this now, huh?"

"When else am I supposed to? You're never here." The Medic spat back, before going back to reading his report angrily. Wheeljack groaned audibly, snatching a rag from the bottom of the unit roughly, before rising back to his pedes incredulously.

"What do ya want from me? Tell Magnus or Prime I can't go out 'cause my _bumper buddy_ said so?"

Now, the medical report is slammed against the berthside table, resounding in a loud clank that echoed throughout the small dwelling.

"Is that what you think I am?"

"Come on Doc– "

"I said not to call me that!" Ratchet spat again, rising from the berth angrily. "Now, answer me."

"You know that's not what I meant." Wheeljack grumbled, wiping the blue and green fluids from his fascia.

"Do I? You certainly haven't proved to me otherwise…"

The rag tears away from scarred faceplates, optical ridges furrowing into a narrowed glare, never wavering from the Medic.

" _ **Proved**_ to you? What the hell does that mean?"

"You know what it means, don't insult me."

The Wrecker rolled his optics again, throwing the rag to the side as he turns back for the door. Ratchet muttered to himself, starting after him hastily.

"So you're just going to leave again?"

"Yeah. I'm not gonna stick around and listen to this slag– "

Ratchet picked up his pace, shoving the Wrecker out of the way, before pressing his back against the door – disallowing his partner to pass.

"Move." Wheeljack huffed, shoulder pauldrons visible tensed.

"No." Ratchet answered shortly, meeting the burning gaze with one of his own. "You can't keep avoiding me, or running away when you–"

"Running away – _**running away**_ _?_ " The Wrecker cut in with a raised tone. Faceplates hardened into a scowl as he leaned closer to the other. "You have some nerve–"

Servos immediately pushed against the Wrecker's chassis, shoving him back harshly – strongly – with a growl.

" _I've_ got nerve? You're one to talk."

Wheeljack took a step back to catch himself at the abrupt shove, and once equilibrium had been restored he shrugged the Medic's servos off his scathed chassis.

"Why don't you just say it, Sunshine. What's _really_ grinding your gears?" As he spoke the gash to his lip bled more. Bright blue beads of Energon trickled down his fascia, cresting at his chinplate before falling to the white chassis.

Ratchet's optics watched carefully, his innate sense of caretaking, of healing threatening to take over – but he resisted. At this moment, his own anger and irritation with the mech overthrew that of compassion and worry, at least, so he told himself. He could feel the small rising pang in his spark, the familiar aching that plagued him for so long.

"Yeah. Just what I thought – all talk, no bite." Wheeljack huffed, moving forward again towards the door. And as before, the Medic blocked his path, blocking out the relentless thoughts whirring about in his processors.

"If you walk out that door – don't expect me to let you back in." He vented firmly, cyan searching cerulean – searching for what? A multitude of things, really, and to his dismay he found none.

It was always this way, giving and giving yet never receiving anything in return. Maybe they were just too different – old and young, caretaker and wrecker; on every level they proved contradictory, and Ratchet had been so naïve as to believe perhaps they could find a balance. But at the same time, hadn't Wheeljack been just as naïve, too?

"C'mon, don't be like that…" The Wrecker started, taking another step closer so that the radiating heat from their frames mixed and mingled together. "You'd miss me too much."

Ratchet shifted, taking a step to the side, if the Wrecker wanted to leave then so be it – who was he to hold onto something that wasn't there? As he passed, he made certain to jar the mech with his shoulder, another slight shove as he stalked to the berth.

"Leave then." He muttered solemnly, reaching for his medical report before perching on the berth's edge. "See if I am bluffing."

Several seconds of silence followed as Wheeljack's servo hovered over the keypad, his mind told him to leave, yet his body disallowed him such an action. Marred digits curled into a slight fist, ridges furrowing further as the war raged on relentlessly under the surface. Just once he would like to come to his dwelling without a fight waiting for him. What did Ratchet expect? He was a fighter – he couldn't stay locked up in the base all day, and it would be ridiculous to ask him to do so.

"I thought we had an agreement…?" He finally vented, back still turned to the Medic as optics fell to the ground. Even now, he could feel the Energon seeping from his lower lip, but he made no move to deter its path; his thoughts were occupied on something else, someone he had grown to care desperately for.

The tension in the room could be cut with a knife, palpable and growing more unforgiving with every second that passed. After what felt to be an eternity a tired vent escaped the Medic, black digits pinching at the bridge between his optics.

"Well, forgive me for wanting more than just fragging– " He muttered quietly, optics still downcast at the report, despite not having read a single word.

Wheeljack shifted his weight from pede to pede, turning now to face the Medic, expression wearing a myriad of emotions; shocked, disbelieving, but mostly… intrigued. When first they had started this pairing of sorts, it was purely physical – all the fun and benefits of a companionship without the responsibilities. But then, there came a shift – at least, he thought he had been the only one to have noticed it. In the late hours of the evening, after they had exhausted themselves, in the few moments before falling into recharge, Wheeljack craved for more, to be closer, to hold the Medic in his arms, to have someone he could trust.

 _To love_.

Something, he had never quite had before – something he had never pictured to come across and call his own in his lifecycle. Not until he had joined Team Prime; not until the first night he and Ratchet had been intimate.

"… Really?" Wheeljack finally asked, voice low and gravelly – worn from the day's battle. Still his faceplates remained hardened, but for a new reason entirely, hoping that what the Medic had said was true.

Ratchet quietly scoffed, shaking his helm as a digit tip flicks across the reports screen.

"Never mind." He muttered again.

Wheeljack took several steps closer, now only an arms length away from the Medic.

"C'mon, Doc…"

"Stop calling me that." Ratchet snapped, glaring at the Wrecker, before pulling his gaze away once again, focusing half-heartedly on the report in his lap.

How could be possibly tell him? Wheeljack was a wrecker, a maverick, someone who would have flings but nothing more. And wasn't this just another fling? Ratchet cursed himself, for letting his spark get the better of him, for letting his loneliness consume him, to the point where he would seek for attention wherever it could be found – from whoever was willing to give it to him.

Wheeljack rounded the berth, setting himself on the surface alongside the orange mech. A servo slowly made its way over, ghosting over the Medic's arm plate, yet never making contact until it hovered over the other's servo. Ridges furrowed, and Wheeljack took Ratchet's servo, holding it firmly, tightly, as though at any moment he would be torn away forever. He wasn't going to let go – not ever.

"Ratchet," Wheeljack started quietly, vocal register lowered to a barely audible whisper. There was an unfamiliar honesty in his voice, a gentleness Ratchet hadn't know the mech could possess. "Please…" A gentle squeeze was given to the Medic's worn servo, and at the contact, optics again met in the dim lighting.

"I'm too old to play these games…" He answered, optics falling to find their connected servos, as digits slowly interlocked like clockwork.

"I don't wanna play games, anymore."

Ratchet could feel himself leaning forward, mirroring the Wrecker's actions as helms now nearly met, the radiating heat from their frames again mingling and mixing in the small space between them. There were so many questions he held, wondering if this was just another ploy, yet also knowing that it wasn't. This was real, he could feel the others want and desperation as clearly as his own, and the looks in his optics told him everything he needed to know.

This was more than either of them had intended – and each wanted to proceed accordingly.

The already minimal space between them had lessened tenfold, and with every word, lip plating brushed and grazed against the others; softly, earnestly, hungrily.

"Before things proceed, there is something I have yet to do." Ratchet finally vented, free servo rising to wipe away the drying Energon from the others wound with a thumb.

"What's that?" Wheeljack rumbled, leaning further into the touch.

"Fix your injuries."

Wheeljack chuckled in partial amusement, taking Ratchet's resting servo from the side of his fascia to press a kiss to the worn palm.

"You already have, Doc."

"Don't call me that."


End file.
